mxt is about to drown

[digman]

Hi all this the last effort to see what this machine can do before it gets thrown into Narraganset Bay. I have been detecting for 11 years using a mine lab sov-gt it has become too heavy for me.Iwas sold on the Whites mxt after attending a hunt in Va. Since I bought this detector it has been the chattiest machine Ive ever seen. The gain can't go above 4 without going crazy. I haven't found s@#t with it in one year. Minelabs are far harder to learn than Whites and I have no problem learning the machine but it can't be this hard. the machine is marketed for being simple to use. Whats going on guys???? I really don't think its me What do u think please save this nice machine from the drowning pool. Thanx Bob Clark

 

[KCD]

I've been feeling the same way lately... I recently picked up a MXT and retired my tesoro bandito to backup use and for my boys.

I have found that the MXT seems to sound off on more iffy targets then the tesoro (tesoro in all-metal gain at 8 and MXT in relic with the gain at 8-9 disc at 1 or 2 ground trac). I feel as if I have yet to get a good handle on the good sounds vs the trash on the mxt because I constantly here chatter and non-repeatable high tones all over the place.

Good Luck

KC

 

[arizonaames]

All I can say guys, it is either a problem with your MXTs or a problem with you. This detector is the best detector on the market bar none. I have had problems with chatter under power lines in town but all in all, it will find coins very deep (8 to 12 inches) and will find gold nuggets as small as 1/2 grain 3 inches deep. I use mine all the time at 8 to 9 gain and disc set to about 3. I used to use the C&J mode but now am happier with the Relic mode.....it finds stuff (diamond rings, silver rings) deeper. The VDI #s tell you what the object is before you dig in the C&J mode and the Relic mode (get to know your VDI #s). In very mineralized ground, like in NV, AZ, and northern CA, I use the Gold Prospecting Mode to find nuggets with the SAT all the way up to Hyper-SAT. Perhaps you both need to send in the detectors for a check up or perhaps you both need more practice. If you wish to sell them, let me offer $200 and I will buy both from each of you. I will be happy to save both of you from such a terrible machine. BTW, I have only had mine for 9 months......

 

[rodbuster]

I agree with arizonaames. The MXT is a great machine. But, it's a high gain machine. That's why you're having the problems with the chatter. There are a lot of factors that could play into the reason why you are having problems.
Are you using too much gain for the area that you are hunting in? What about electrical interference.? Are there power lines in the area? One of the best ways to understand a new detector is to be able to hunt with someone who has a similar model. This way you can share ideas and you will be able to learn quite a bit from each other.
I belong to a detecting club in the Chicago area and the majority of detectors used by club members are E-TRAC'S and MXT'S.
When I talk to the members about their detectors, they were frustrated with these models until they became used to using them. I think both manufacturers make an outstanding detector. Be patient. Try to hook up with someone with a similar make and model. The MXT has plenty of power and once you learn to use it properly you'll be surprised at the finds that you will make with it.
I started off using a White's Coin Master quite a few years ago. Over the years I have used a lot of different makes and models. But White's have always served me well.
I currently use an MXT and I am very happy with the results of this detector . Don't give up and don't drown your MXT.

 

[Nailbender]

Maybe you should consider trading for an M6, pretty much the same as the MXT but no threshold, runs silent and has the seven tones. Love mine.

 

[Hunt4Fun]

I have had my MXT for almost 5 years now. I only remember one time when I had to lower the gain to 8. It was in a highly mineralized location and there were 500kv overhead line about 100 feet away. You must have some of the worst ground in the country or you have a tremendous amount of RF interference. However, if it behaves the same everywhere you go, I suspect there is something wrong with your MXT ... probably a bad coil. I believe it needs to go to your local dealer or call White

 

[BarberBill]

The MXT does have the capability to chatter and be noisy, especially if the gain is too high for the ground mineralization or if the threshold is set a bit too high. AND being a threshold based non-silent search machine it takes a bit of getting used to. However, that said, with the threshold set to barely audible, gain around 10 and disc at or just below the first preset my machine runs beautifully and I've done very well with it. Usually, in my soil, I can turn the gain on up to +2 with little increase in noise. However, when I first got it I tried to detect a very trashy park using the 9.5 coil and I was getting so many hits it sounded similar to a machine gun. I switched to the little 4X6 shooter coil and it was like magic and I ended up retrieving a good number of coins. Since that time I've also used the 5.3 and 6X10 coils a good bit and now seldom use the 9.5 or larger as the other coils handle trash and separation much better, at least for most of my detecting. If you're using the 9.5 or larger coils you might find the smaller ones to your liking. Of course, as mentioned above, there is the possibility that your machines need a check up. Hope this is helpful.
HH
BB

 

[Joel-Winnipeg]

I started using the MXT in the spring time after using the XLT for three years before that.
Like you, I was pulling my hair out trying to master the detector.
I practised with burying coins and other goodies and try to find them.
It was not easy at first but ended up finding plenty of outstanding finds.
I still use the coin and jewelry mode for the rest of this year but will graduate to the relic mode for next summer.
Hang in there its a great detector once you learn it Very chatty machine for sure...
Could also be a coil problem !

 

[bowser]

i too have used the mxt and i am not sure i like it.There was so much hype about it and so forth,however i have more fun and succes using a whites a whites idx-pro silent search machine that has no problem i'ding coins and reaching reaching depths of 5-8 inches in MA.soil..I did notice that the mxt seemed to produce more likely targets ,they were too numerous to dig and more often than not trash. I am still convinced unless i my settings were off,that the recovery time was much faster with the idx JMHO JIM this idx has not been modified yet.

 

[arizonaames]

Back to basics: The MXT is a very sensitive instrument. That is what makes it one of the best detectors available on the market today. If you have a detector that is not picking up targets (lack of chatter) then you have a detector that is lacking the sensitivity to pick up those targets or to go deep. The chatter comes from having more targets in the cone (V) of your coil. There might be a piece of a pulltab, a bit of a nail, and a penny. As you sweep over the penny, you will get chatter from the piece of pulltab and bit of nail as well as the penny. It makes for chatter plane and simple. The question that you folks should be asking is how to differentiate between targets to separate the penny from the bit of nail and piece of pulltab. It is quite simple. Use a dd coil. A dd coil does not have a cone shaped signal that the coil sends out. It is a straight line signal like this....( I ) The target that is going to show up now is the target that is only.( directly below ) in that straight line signal that the dd coil sends out ( I ). This is the way that you can have a detector that is not only sensitive to all targets and go deep but also can separate your targets to know what to dig after you master the VDIs of the targets you want to dig. Again.....I will pay shipping on my offer. Don't get the detectors wet.....HH.....

 

[wltdwiz]

o no don't drown it
are you using the stock 9 inch coil?
try a different coil first like a dd 6 x 10 or 4 x 6 if possible
run the sensitively at 8 -9 discrimination at 3
listen for solid repeatable hits
then check the meter for a vdi #
2-20 foil gold rings or nickles possibly coins fall 57- 85 possible coin
if it still cant be quieted down reduce gain
if all else fails call whites there service is top notch second to none im sure they will fix you up..
dont give up on it , its a great machine .. mxt rules
good luck
walt

 

[southernstyle]

I agree with the Mxt being a great machine. I am using it on salt beaches....I run 8 or so on gain, 2 to 3 on disc, I have my threshold turned up pretty high compared to normal ground, I have a consistent loud hum, it cuts down on the small chatter I usually here. I do have to re-check targets a lot, but I don't go as deep as if my gain were at 6. Look at my recent post, 3 gold rings in the past 2 weeks, 2 of them have diamonds. I have used mine in the states (Georgia) and it ran stable. Some people do have problems with there's from the get go. I also run Relic mode, for me, I like the tone it offers more than coin and jewelry. I always check the Vdi for solid, repeatable beeps.

Good luck,
Chris

 

[akille68]

I have had more than 15 metal detectors of different brands, but White's and MXT/M6 are on my top list. So You can get rid of it just if You wanna change hobby, imho.
Take r.
Ale

 

[Canewrap]

I had one for a year and used the heck out of it. I thought I had figured it out, but still wasn't making many finds. So, I had picked an X-terra 70 to work with as well. I started doing well with the X-terra and a few months later the MXT was sold. Been using the X-terra for about 8 months now and I don't regret getting rid of the heavy hot rock machine.

 

[ColoradoGoldMan]

Please don't take this wrong. It seems to me that a lot of Mine Lab owners spend a lot of time on other brand detector forums trying to convert other users to the Mine Lab brand. The V3 seems to get a lot of criticism as well as the DFX and MXT. I read the other forums but never post any thing knocking their brand. My best friend hunts with a ML and He used to make ail kinds of fun at my GTI 2500, Infinium LS and my other detectors I have owned and tried. I have found many thousands of coins, relics and gold nuggets with my detectors and when I hunt with him at times he does better, some times and some times I do better. At the end of the year we do about the same. When a got my MXT he just went nuts, "Why did you get that old thing" even though it is a 1 yr old MXT 300. He is a great guy but it seems the Mine Lab turns him in to an evil pirate or some thing.:biggrin.

I had one for a year and used the heck out of it. I thought I had figured it out, but still wasn't making many finds. So, I had picked an X-terra 70 to work with as well. I started doing well with the X-terra and a few months later the MXT was sold. Been using the X-terra for about 8 months now and I don't regret getting rid of the heavy hot rock machine.

Sorry to hijack the thread. I'm a new MXT owner and found that the book by Jeff Foster, really helped me understand the MXT and it's personality. The MXT is a really great detector and if you get the coil over a target it will sound off. It is a little chatty but that is the nature of the beast as they say. It seems to me that the high freq that it operates at is very near the optimum for an all around detector. It has good depth on coins and jewelry, it hits relics and artifacts with gusto, and it is killer on small gold. It's not a GPX 4500 but it didn't set me back 8 grand either.
You may try, when setting up the detector, switch to relic mode and listen to the threshold if it is chirping then reduce gain just until it stops and that is a good place for a new user to start until you get more used to the MXT.
Another thing verify the ground balance, for some reason a few times after I ground balanced the detector it acted weird, rebalanced and it worked great. To verify the GB just find a clean area lift to waist level, pull the trigger and lower to the ground you should not here much of a change, mine has just a slight increase in threshold. I also have started hunting in relic mode, the SAT is slower in relic mode it is fixed at a slower speed and quites it down a lot.I also use alternate search mode fewer grunts. When I first got the MXT I set the disc to 0 and dug hundreds of very thing to learn it's language. I now run at 2.5 and can tell from the sound if it is junk or a ring,coin or....about 95% of the time.
Again sorry for the rambling. Hang in there this is one great detector and most of all it is "FUN"
HH
C

 

[arizonaames]

When I was in NV at Pacerites this year, I was finding twice the nuggets with my MXT than a pro prospector using a Minelab 4500. He was finding nuggets 2 feet deep but missing the nuggets 3 to 7 inches down. The Super SAT on the MXT gives me the advantage over other detectors in mineralized ground in Prospecting Mode. Plus, and a big plus, I do not have to dig everything like nails, bullets, and shards of metal: I have discrimination that a PI does not have.

The MXT was not designed as a coin shooter. The coin and jewelry modes were an add on to a great gold detector. There are other detectors that might be better for coin shooting. However, the MXT was designed as a nugget shooter and for a VLF, it is better that any comparable Minelab, GB2, or even the GMT. I have hunted with these other detectors in the field and know this to be fact. If you are not satisfied with a great detector then you have the option to sell it....to me for $200....and either quit detecting or go to a different detector......your choice......jim

 

[BarberBill]

The MXT may not have been specifically designed to be a coin shooter, and in fact, I have several other lighter, detectors that are more enjoyable to swing while coin shooting but that said, I have done extremely well on coins with it and can't fault its performance in that regard at all. The fact that it is a very usable machine for prospecting was the plus that moved me to get mine. IMHO it is the most versatile, powerful, multi-purpose, simple to use, detector available today for the price and the broad coil selection available for it really expands its usefulness.
HH
BB

 

[mncricket]

I was starting to think that mine was an awfully chattery little machine as well... I will wait and read the book by Jeff Foster. My issue is with the Threshold....what is normal? When I first got it and was searching a beach (freshwater) near where I picked it up (couldn't wait to use it), I could run the threshold between the 12 o'clock and 2 o'clock position. When I go it home I can't put it past the 11 position or it is constant noise.... I took it to an 1800's farm this past weekend (was a horse farm with an old racing track out back)...we only searched around the barn, but I didn't first anything interesting as all....anyone in MN want to show me how to use this thing?

 

[arizonaames]

I could not agree with you more, BarberBill. The MXT has a low freq, 15 KH (14.8 KH), compared to other gold detectors and that translates to it's being able to find nuggets deeper than other VLF gold detectors (the higher the freq, the smaller the nuggets it will find but the shallower it will find nuggets). It also means that this is the frequency that the DFX uses, as well as a 5 KH mode. It makes for a great coin shooter too.....I found that in very mineralized ground, when nugget shooting, have the VSAT turned all the way up to the SuperSAT position. You will hear a bee buz and you will not pick up the mineralized ground no matter how bad that ground is. Now, since finding the Relic Mode, I hunt for coins and jewelry in the Relic Mode. I like hearing the target and know that it is what I have set the disc for without having to look at the VDI all the time. Now the MXT is not perfect! The only thing that I have found perfect is me. I do not like the EMI when shooting for coins in town under or near 220 power lines on the street. The chatter is unnerving! I also do not like the EMI that I get when using my MXT near my friends DFX. I talked to Whites Engineering about this and they think that sending it in and changing the crystal might help as the crystals do vary a bit with freq. I have had so much success the way it is that I have decided to live with that problem and get another friend.....just kidding.....jim

 

[Groundshaker]

I would call the MXT and GMT White's "Hot Rods". If you need/want something quieter see about trading in your MXT for a M6.Still a great maching,but not so noisy.